Astronaut blasted into space to die after carrying out harrowing last act

An astronaut left a tragic legacy after being sent on a mission to space in a faulty aircraft. He crash landed back on earth and became the first human to die in a spaceflight incident

An astronaut completed a haunting and selfless final act before he was blasted into space, knowing he wouldn’t return alive.

Space travel and exploration is a global mission seen as an essential tool in guaranteeing the long-term survival of the human race, while also bringing about a deeper understanding of the universe – and our place in it.

Space agencies and programmes around the world are united in their quest to procure medical and environmental information, technological advances, answers to important scientific questions, and more. There’s also the hope space travel will uncover groundbreaking discoveries to further aid humanity.

Throughout our tenure into space travel and exploration, animals have been sent to their deaths as part of the research to allow humans to go into space, and some astronauts have also lost their lives.

Soviet test pilot, aerospace engineer and cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov was sent on a mission to space in a faulty aircraft, becoming the first human to die in a spaceflight incident.

After successfully commanding Voskhod 1, the first spaceflight to carry more than one crew member in October of 1964, he was awarded the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union.

Komarov was later chosen as the solo pilot of Soyuz 1, the Soviet space program’s first crewed test flight. His back-up cosmonaut was national hero, Yuri Gagarin.

On April 24 1967, Komarov successfully re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere on his 19th orbit but it still ended in tragedy – his parachute failed to deploy which caused the Soyuz capsule to crash at full-speed into the ground, killing Komarov instantly.

Komarov had worked with back-up pilot Gagarin and the two were said to be friends.

According to former KGB agent Venyamin Russayev, the Soyuz spacecraft wasn’t safe – and Komarov and Gagarin knew it.

Russayev claims Komarov told him: “I’m not going to make it back from this flight.”

To which Russayev replied: “If you’re so convinced you’re going to die, then why don’t you refuse the mission?”

Komarov is said to have answered: “If I don’t make this flight, they’ll send the back-up pilot instead. That’s Yuri, and he’ll die instead of me. We’ve got to take care of him.”

In a BBC interview back in 1997, Russayev recounted this tale and said it was at this point that Komarov “burst into tears.”

He added: “He cracked. Maybe he just let out all the tension, and he began to cry.”

The former KGB agent also claimed Gagarin attempted to have Komarov “bumped” from the mission, under the belief Soviet leadership wouldn’t risk him, a national hero, on the doomed flight.

But Komarov wouldn’t hear of it and, despite believing the mission was destined for disaster, he wouldn’t put Gagarin’s life at risk.

Russsayev’s claims have been contested by some space historians, who dispute his version of events.

Yuri Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first person to journey into outer space during the first successful crewed spaceflight.